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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26530522">Vicky and Lu : Earth</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrumpkinVicky/pseuds/GrumpkinVicky'>GrumpkinVicky</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Vicky n Lu [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dragon Age - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Gods &amp; Goddesses, Dimension Travel, Earth, Fluff and Crack, Multi, Not Canon Compliant, Other, Swearing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 05:35:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,633</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26530522</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrumpkinVicky/pseuds/GrumpkinVicky</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been a while since they wrapped up the whole Dragon Age plot, even the part where she needed to pop back because well she was upset. Vicky and Lu (Pragmatism and Temperance) are kicking their heels doing normal everyday stuff, until she gets a phone call. It turns out that some of the crew from Thedas wanted to visit, just a shame really that there wasn't a conversation about that...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Vicky n Lu [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1451548</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. A Call</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So if any of you are wondering - but what happened to the chunk that happens after Haven but before current part 2 of the series... well, I have a third of it written, but not all. And as I'm at the same stage with DBW I don't want to write it until DBW is done to stop leakage. I actually started this Oct 19, before DBW (and before I finished the actual part 2) as an idle plotting out. But Solas won't shut up. So I am posting everything now because it a) doesn't spoil the actual part 2, and b) it is done until we know more about what comes in DA4. Or until something else happens that he needs to comment on...</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She’d been definitely doing housework, and not at all curled up in bed reading terrible fiction, with George purring in her ear, having given up trying to convince her to go downstairs to feed him for the fourth time that morning when her phone rang. To be fair though, looking back at it, if she hadn’t been curled up in bed, half despairing and half squeeing over the way the fics managed to misspell the protags name for the nth time, she would have missed the call, her phone as ever being on silent.</p>
<p>She’d been half tempted not to answer it as well. The call had come through as withheld, which only meant something crappy. The first time she’d minimised it and carried on reading, the second time she gave in.</p>
<p>“Yes?”</p>
<p>“Is that Vicky?”</p>
<p>“May I ask who you are first?” she could hear the barely muffled groan in the woman’s voice as it became clear to the caller that she wouldn’t be playing nicely.</p>
<p>“I’m calling from -”</p>
<p>“Look, I’m not interested in whatever it is you are selling.” She just wanted to go back to see what happened next. She had three chapters to go, and there was a hell of a lot of plot to wrap up unless this was one of those stupid ones that said they were complete, but actually, it meant that the author had given up and just marked it as done to get rid of it.</p>
<p>“No, I’m calling from the hospital.” she sat upright, already reaching into the top drawer for a pair of pants.</p>
<p>“Which hospital, and who is it for?” her mind immediately started working down the list, if it was Manchester, then it would be her sister, but surely Mum would get that call, or Dad, unless they couldn’t be reached. If it was one of the ones in London, it would be Lu, and if it was one nearby, it was either Mum or Dad.</p>
<p>“Stichforth, I just need to check some details with you first to make sure we have the right person.” The woman had switched to a calming tone, not that Vicky reacted to it, she’d worked within the NHS long enough to just want to get to the bones of the situation.</p>
<p>“Who is it? Delphine or Bastian?” there was a pause on the other end of the line.</p>
<p>“Please if you can just answer a couple of questions? Are you married to a man named Lucien? And did you have two cats, one named Smudge and one named George?”</p>
<p>“Yes, although Smudge is sadly no longer with us, George, however, is still hail and hearty, can you please tell me what this is about?” There was a strangled noise in the background and the familiar sound of phones ringing off the hook.</p>
<p>“We have two of your friends with us in the A&amp;E department, one of whom was hit by a car whilst crossing the road, he is fine, but they have informed us that you are their next of kin, and they are staying with you?” She paused from pulling on her jeans to stare at the phone, as far as she was aware she didn’t really have any friends in Stichforth anymore. Hell, she didn’t have anyone staying with them either.</p>
<p>“Can you just confirm their names?” Because there was no way in hell, she was getting herself to Stichforth without a car, without knowing who she was going to rescue, especially as she’d have to sweet talk her Dad into borrowing his car or getting him to drop them off.</p>
<p>“The names they provided were Alistair Theirin, and Solas no last name.” She could hear the faint disapproval. It would have been a nightmare to put into the computers if he was refusing to give them a surname. Shit, she should be concerned more about the fact that two men were pretending to be characters than considering how awkward it had been when they asked for dates of birth.</p>
<p>“Uh, ok, I’ll send my Dad up if you need someone there soon. Otherwise, I have no car currently, so it’ll take me a bit.” She knew from experience that they would be desperate to ship them out if they were fine, and no doubt it had taken some wrangling to track her down if all they had was her name and her husbands. </p>
<p>“We look forward to seeing you soon, the men will be waiting in the discharge lounge with the discharge papers.” Brilliant, no doubt they’d need to find a pharmacy, shit where had she left her purse?</p>
<p>First things first, send a quick message off to Lu, “call me when you get chance?” and then, after she’d finished pulling on the rest of her clothes, calling her Dad.</p>
<p>“Hi, Vic, what’s up?” </p>
<p>“Hi Dad, nothing much, uh… are you busy? Like right now and maybe for the rest of the day?” She kept it light and breezy, as she struggled to walk down the stairs without getting barrelled over by George.</p>
<p>“No, why? Do you need me to come over and help with something?” This was why she loved her Dad, he was always happy enough to help, especially now he had “retired”.</p>
<p>“Uh, sounds a bit odd, but two of our friends have ended up in a&amp;e, in Stichforth, they have us down as emergency contacts, but Lu has the car, and it sounds like the hospital is anxious to discharge them properly. Would you be able to head up, and maybe sort out prescriptions with them while I make my way over?” She was trying to juggle dodging George, and the cacophony from the guinea pigs as they heard her enter the kitchen where she kept the best things, baby corn, cucumber, romaine and bell peppers.</p>
<p>“Do you need me to come and collect you?”</p>
<p>“Nah, it should be fine, I just need to catch a bus to the station, and then catch a direct one from there to the hospital, probably take maybe an hour and a half max, if it lines up ok.” She forced herself to sound light, as she was rummaging for her purse, hoping she hadn’t left it in the car, the car that was currently 25 minutes away at Stichforth station, waiting for Lu to drive it back in 8 hours.</p>
<p>“If you’re sure, are they anyone I know?” he asked over the sound of a mug being put down.</p>
<p>“Got it, uh sorry Dad” she found her purse from its hiding place, underneath the small bag of potatoes where she could only presume she’d dumped it when cleaning the kitchen before cooking the night before. “I don’t think you do, Alistair Theirin and Solas should be in the discharge lounge, if you ask at the desk the people should point them out. I’ll pay you back for the prescriptions.”</p>
<p>“Don’t worry about it, look, why don’t you catch a taxi?” she had thought about it, but it seemed a bit daft to spend five times as much just to save an hour. “Look I’ll pay for it,” </p>
<p>“It’s not that I can’t pay for a taxi, Dad, it just seems silly.”</p>
<p>“You’ll just work yourself up into a state, book a taxi and I’ll meet you up at the hospital, you know it’ll take forever.” He wasn’t wrong and she couldn’t be bothered to work up a suitable argument to not get there quicker.</p>
<p>“I’ll text you when I know when I’ll be there, just, thanks, Dad.” </p>
<p>Her next call, after checking her phone to see the message was still unread on Lu’s side, was to a taxi company. They promised to be there in ten, which gave her just long enough to run-up to the shop to withdraw some cash, not trusting the taxi to let her pay by card. It also gave her something to concentrate on, rather than the mystery of who would be pretending to be a character from well, she was guessing her story if they wanted her to be next of kin, some elaborate joke no doubt. </p>
<p>Phone, keys, purse, George had biscuits, Guinea pigs had enough hay to feed a horse and were busy munching on baby corn that they’d dragged back into their respective houses, the actual house locked, and her foot tapping as she waited. She’d debated grabbing some knitting, but having experienced knitting whilst being driven. Then having to unpick it all, she wasn’t keen, so instead took to chewing on her finger and staring down the road until the taxi arrived.</p>
<p>A quiet thirty-minute drive. The driver turning the radio up after she’d failed to respond to any of the standard topics; the weather, the roads, the news and sport. She’d finally apologised for being quiet, with the driver waving it off after they’d learnt where in the hospital she was off to.</p>
<p>She’d paid, got two steps into the building before bumping into someone she knew. Frigging Stichforth. For somewhere that had over 100k plus people, it was worse than a small village. If she had a mind to be fair, she had worked here for six years, and it was a stone throw from where she’d grown up, but still.</p>
<p>She barely restrained herself from growling as she then bumped into two more people, who seemed insistent on “catching up” as she made her excuses. Lu still not having called her, and she was determined not to go any further without knowing where they were, as knowing her current luck she’d end up dragged into offices and passed round departments. </p>
<p>Her phone buzzed, pharmacy, right she could go there, and if she had butterflies in her stomach, well she wouldn’t admit it to anyone. Nor the way that she paused just round the corner, steeling herself to meet whomever it was pretending - that - shit. </p>
<p>She felt her eyes go wide as she spotted her Dad, and the two men with him, and then her phone went, buzzing in her hand as she took a step back, Lu.</p>
<p>“What’s up?” usually the grounding sound of Lu’s voice would be enough to speak, but she peeked back around the corner where her Dad had spotted her and was waving, frowning as she darted back, to stand with her back to the wall, letting it take her weight as she slithered down to the ground.</p>
<p>“Vicky? Is this going through the headset again?”</p>
<p>“Uh - Lu-”</p>
<p>“Yeah, I haven’t got long, what’s up?”</p>
<p>“I, I - I’m at the hospital, uh,” she was struggling to find the words.</p>
<p>“Do I need to head home, I’ll come back, which hospital, is everything alright, do I need to call anyone?”</p>
<p>“No, um it’s fine, uh, everyone is fine, uh-” she was starting to hyperventilate. “Um, Alistair’s here, and so is Solas.” she could hear him thumping down into a chair.</p>
<p>“That’s not funny,”</p>
<p>“Yeah, um, Dad’s with them, I mean I only looked for a few moments, but, oh shit” she looked up at the beaming and slightly bruised face of Alistair, with Solas loitering looking overly casual behind her Dad. He was giving her strange looks before spotting the phone in her hand and mouthing the word Lu, to which she nodded.</p>
<p>“Uh, Lu, want to speak to Alistair?” she could hear him spluttering down the phone, as she held it out to the giant, who had taken it gingerly before putting it against his ear.</p>
<p>“Hi Lu, we came to visit, but I got hit by a thing, so we got brought to this brilliant place where it was all white and light and very clean, oh, you want to speak to Vicky?” he held it back, as she squashed the squeak.</p>
<p>“That was Alistair’s voice, why is that Alistair’s voice, Vicky?” </p>
<p>“I have no idea, you know exactly as much as I do at the moment, I - look, uh, give me an hour, I’ll call you back and then, maybe you can book some time off? You have lots right, just wait until I call you?” She couldn’t really think properly, as Alistair continued to grin at her, her brain struggling to compute with him being there.</p>
<p>“Call me as soon as you know, I have a meeting at two, but I can cancel, I can head home now, they heard me ask you about the hospital, Chris is great, he won’t mind.” She couldn’t help but reach out to touch his cheek. He was real, she could feel him, fuck. She could feel her eyes watering and her nose running as Lu continued to speak. “Look, I’m catching the next train home, just let me know whether you are still in Stichforth, alright?” </p>
<p>She handed the phone over to her Dad as she needed her free hand to rub at her nose, her other hand too caught up in stroking the bruised cheek of the impossible man.</p>
<p>“Give me a call when you are back in Stichforth, she’s a bit distraught,” she couldn’t help but watery snicker at her Dad’s description, as Alistair was content to be petted whilst she snotted over her hand.</p>
<p>“Alright, Lu’s on his way back. Apparently, he thinks you may have had a bit of a shock, maybe some fresh air will make you feel better? The car’s in the car park, but maybe you would like to walk your friends back to ours instead? I’ll go get the kettle on,” He passed her a hanky, that she chose not to inspect too much, using it to mop up her suspiciously damp cheeks before balling it up to dab at her nose. “Up you get, off the floor.” </p>
<p>It was Solas who helped her up, flushing slightly as her fingers gripped into his arm and she started sniffing heavily again, clearly uneasy at her leaking at his mere presence.</p>
<p>“Uh, yeah, we’ll uh - it’s not far,” she offered her hand out to the still crouching Alistair. He almost pulled back down to the ground as he used her to stand upright. Solas kept her from falling back down to the ground, while Alistair looking highly confused. </p>
<p>“You are a dwarf!” Why was she crying over him again? Oh for fucks sake, get a grip! Thankfully her Dad had long since disappeared, trusting in her ability to escort the two giants through the hospital and back home.</p>
<p>“No, like I told you before, I am of average height, why - what- ugh” she couldn’t decide what she wanted to ask first before she was stuffed into rib crunching hug, “You giant lummox, I’m fragile,” </p>
<p>“Tiny more like, I knew we’d find you,” she gave him a suspicious look after she’d managed to peel herself away enough that she could tilt her head far enough back to actually look him in the eyes.</p>
<p>“Perhaps we should have this conversation, elsewhere?” She’d missed the sly bastard, even if he did look appalled as she gave him a quick hug, the three of them in a hug train looking only a tad out of place in the wide corridor.</p>
<p>“Uh, yeah, are you ok to walk though? You got hit by a car?” she could do this, worrying over Alistair was pretty ingrained now. It had the added benefit of making the giant beam at her again and Solas to stop scowling at the indignity of being hugged at all, never mind where people could see.</p>
<p>After being reassured that yes, he could walk, and actually walk better than she could at this point. Pointing out that she was still a bit unsteady on her feet. Slightly unfair considering the shock of seeing them both not having worn off yet, she escorted them through the reasonably quiet corridors. Determinedly not feeling like a dwarf between two giants. </p>
<p>“Hungry?” then a look of surprise as she was handed a handful of crisp notes, by an incredibly proud looking Alistair, had her staring at him in somewhat disbelief. “I - I’m not going to ask, look, uh goddamnit Lu!” she stared at her phone as it began to ring again, as Solas ducked into the small patisserie that served the hospital delicious looking cakes and savouries.</p>
<p>She was trying to keep an eye on the impossible men, as they seemingly bought a whole tray of sausage rolls, whilst trying to have a circumspect conversation with her husband. He had managed to make it onto the tube in record time, while trying to find out information that she still didn’t know, beyond the fact that yes, Alistair at the very least was hungry, and Solas was busy. </p>
<p>“Lu just sec ok - Solas if you eat that much sugar you will go into a diabetic coma!” He ignored her naturally as he pointed at four large pavlova nests, and then the tray of scones, though she had to admit they did - no she wasn’t hungry, she oh god Lu was still rabbiting in her ear. “I’ll call you back as soon as I know more than they are determined to eat everything they can see.” </p>
<p>She didn’t comment at the three bags full of boxes of cakes, pies and rolls, nor when Alistair had stared at the small newsagents opposite to the patisserie. She carried on walking through the large revolving door, deciding that the best thing to do at this point would be to leave the danger area to compose herself. Fucking Lu, did he think she had managed to speak to them in the last three minutes?</p>
<p>“No, I will call you, just let me know when you are on the train,” she didn’t even let him speak this time before hanging up, letting out another shuddering breath as her right hand was captured by a comforting callused grip, and her left side nudged by the skinny, lanky ancient man. </p>
<p>“We don’t have time to get into it here, and frankly if we can, I’d rather do it when I was at home with Lu, but - what did you tell Dad? And what do I need to know before we get back to Dad’s in precisely five minutes?” She didn’t dare look at them, her left hand clenching around her buzzing phone again, this time not answering it.</p>
<p>“Do you think he’d mind if I called him Grandfather?”</p>
<p>“What the fuck Alistair, what the absolute fuck.” </p>
<p>“Too soon?”</p>
<p>“We just said that we had got into a bit of a mess and that we weren’t from the area,” thank all that was holy that Solas had more brain cells than her giant lummox of a prat did.</p>
<p>“Right, well, I mean you do sound welsh, so that scans. Anything I need to know? Like anything that might make life really difficult if you tell me in front of Dad?” She could work with that, she hadn’t told them how she’d met Lu for the first three years of their relationship after all.</p>
<p>“We’ve been here three weeks-” she couldn’t help but squeak, coming to a standstill before being jerked forward by the momentum of Alistair. “And Fenris and Varric are back at the house.” Yep, if not for his firm grip on her hand she would be back on the floor, rocking back and forth.</p>
<p>“We’ve been trying to track you down, but we had problems.” No shit sherlock, what the absolute fuck.</p>
<p>“Three weeks?” he had the cheek to beam at her, even as Solas was looking shifty-eyed.</p>
<p>“We had issues trying to locate you.” </p>
<p>“And Varric and Fenris are at Dad’s?”</p>
<p>“No, they are down the road in a nice house we are staying at.” does not compute, does not compute at all. This time she answered the phone.</p>
<p>“They’ve been here three weeks, and Varric and Fenris are here too, they’ve found a house Lu, and that’s all I know.” she hung up, before staring at her phone, considering launching it at the road, the hectic main road where Alistair started to point at something.</p>
<p>“That’s where I got hit by the car,” </p>
<p>“Congratulations, you know they don’t stop for you right, you must do if you’ve been here three whole fucking weeks.” she took a deep breath, counted to ten slowly, then back down to one, before crossing the road.</p>
<p>“Down the road?” She couldn’t help but stop when they were safely across, she could see her parents house just through the fences from here, but still, down the frigging road. “No, damn it, how far down the road?”</p>
<p>“Not far,” Solas was giving her a very shifty expression, as she wavered between smacking them both in public at the busy main roadside. </p>
<p>“Are we talking, as long as it takes to get from Redcliffe to Crossroads? Or are we talking as long as it takes to get from the god-awful suite at the top of the tower to the throne?” Alistair, the giant lummox, still didn’t have any sense not to hide his grinning.</p>
<p>“Redcliffe castle to Redcliffe village, in fact, you can almost see it, if not for the buildings in between, you realise all your buildings are very close to each other.” Thank you, Solas, close though, suspiciously close.</p>
<p>Her fingers twitched around her phone, in the time they’d spent stood this side of the road, they could have been back at Dad’s, but she needed to see the other two, check them, check all of them. Too much, too quickly. Fucking fuck fuck fuck fucking hell.</p>
<p>“Dad, taking a detour.” short and sweet, she was a grown adult, and he’d no doubt be looking at his courgettes or whatever it was that was currently in bloom at the moment. </p>
<p>“Right, oh for fucks sake Lu,” her phone was going off again, this time it was plucked from her fingers by the skinny prick, who then refused to return it as she went to grab it back out of his hands. “Just - let’s go see the crib, and by the crib, I mean the place that is giving me palpitations just thinking about it.” she satisfied herself by glowering, unable to do much more as he held it out of her reach. How she missed Thedas, where she had access to a hell of a lot more power to just take it back, here, he had range on her that she lacked.</p>
<p>She was, however, begrudgingly impressed. They really were close, just off the crossroads from the small former village that had been eaten up by the town years previously. The unassuming terrace positioned neatly in walking distance to three fast food outlets, one of which was a rather delicious Chinese. No! She wasn’t hungry, she was not thinking about king prawns in ginger on a nice bed of soft noodles! She was focusing on the fact that Solas was using a bloody yale key to open the front door to an actual house, like an actual person and not like the giant prick she knew him to be.</p>
<p>“Food!” fucking Varric, he knew exactly what he was doing, she could tell by that twatty smile on his face, as she was pushed inside with all the reluctance of a cat going into a cat carrier.</p>
<p>“Fenris, nice to see you, Varric.” two could play at that game, even as she let out a sigh at the even broodier man loitering in the hallway in frigging skinny ass jeans, because why the hell not.</p>
<p>“You found her.” understatement of the fucking century Fenris, also rude. </p>
<p>“Going to let me in properly, or shall we just chat in the hallway, like I’m selling you double glazing.” she could see her phone light up again, as Varric snagged it from Solas, who had rudely pushed past her to head into what she would guess would be the living room.</p>
<p>“Hey Lu, yeah, she’s just got here, oh great, I’ll let her know, yeah, lots to catch up on, do you know where the Co-op is, the one next to the post office - yes Caster Road - oh yeah, well if you cross the road from the Co-op, and head down the side street, we are just down there, small world I know.” What the absolute fuck Varric???? “Yeah, three down from the Chinese, yeah, really the thing they do with the beef is delicious.” </p>
<p>She almost walked out back out onto the street, if it hadn’t been for Alistair blocking her way, why couldn’t she just move him, oh right, because not in Thedas, like these guys weren’t in Thedas. </p>
<p>“I need to go to the shop, anyone want anything?” yeah, that’s what she would do, pretend like everything was normal, and then she could go and what, hop on a bus, she could hop on a bus, she didn’t need her phone any more, she had her door keys, hop on a bus, go home, and rock in a corner.</p>
<p>“Yeah, she’s trying to escape, she has that look on her face, you know the one she got every time she couldn’t decide if she wanted to blow up or hide.” She was going to kill Varric, she was going to kill Lu, maybe even kill the smirking broody half-naked elf. “Lu says,” fuck off with the Lu says shit, “that you just need to sit down and have something caffeinated,” Oh Lu thinks that this is perfectly normal then, just a caffeine hysteria, brilliant.</p>
<p>“Coffee?” Maybe Fenris wasn’t all that bad, as she found herself being herded past the smug well, he couldn’t really be described as a Dwarf now when he was the same height as her, prick, with her phone lounging on the stairs like he’d been born with it in his hand.</p>
<p>“Soft drinks? Coffee if not will be fine, just, maybe he isn’t wrong,” though pretty sure the colossal headache wasn’t withdrawal, and it was this. “Actually, there is no way you’ll have what I want, and the shop is just across the road, I need like 5 minutes to process. Do you need any milk?” People always needed milk, universal truth. “Or biscuits. I’ll pick up some milk and some biscuits, semi-skimmed ok? Or are you all health-conscious and want skimmed, because I refuse, it’s just water with white colouring. Whole though is fine, useful for baking.” She was not babbling, nope not at all.</p>
<p>She peeked through the door to where Solas had disappeared off to. To find a room that looked very lived in, with stray cups on surfaces, books everywhere and random clothes strewn. Yep, she needed to leave, needed to go right now. Not able to catch her breath until she’d slipped past a docile Alistair. An Alistair who’d looked at her as if she was insane, the door closing firmly behind her. She waited less than a minute, possibly less than a second before doubling over. </p>
<p>She could - no she couldn’t do this, even with them inside the house, she could feel eyes on her, and if she was to straighten up, she was sure she would catch at least Alistair peering through the blinds at her. Why did the bus stop have to be in the opposite direction to the shop, and Varric the bastard had her phone, she didn’t even know what time it was to check once she got there. No, she’d pop across the road, and then hopefully they would have given up watching for her to come out, and she could sneak to the bus stop with her receipt which would give her the time, it was a genius plan, certainly one that wouldn’t fail.</p>
<p>She’d forgotten to get the receipt, and then Fenris was waiting for her, at the crossing, smirking in the smirking bastard way he had, smirky smirking smirk bastard argh. The plan failed, of course, it did. She wasn’t any calmer. Even by picking up enough diet fizz to last a week, and enough chocolate, to send her into the diabetic coma she’d warned Solas about earlier. She almost dived back into the shop to pick up some ice cream, but that would look too much like she was avoiding them, which she was. Fuck it, she wanted ice cream now.</p>
<p>Ignoring the strange looks waltzing back into the small supermarket, complete with the items just purchased using the crisp - where had they gotten the money from? Before paying for the tubs of ice cream with their ill-gotten gains, because it would have been ill-gotten, she didn’t trust any of them in that respect, not even not so innocent Alistair. </p>
<p>This time she met the - how he was even smugger the smirking rat fink, she didn’t know, but she met his smirk with what she hoped was a disapproving gaze and not the irrational panic that was bubbling under the surface. She was a strong, independent woman - and nope, it was too strange. </p>
<p>“Your Dad called,” right, let’s continue to pretend this is all normal, that she could do, she couldn’t, but she would make an attempt at it, maybe?</p>
<p>“Oh?” She tried for a light, breezy tone. She tried, anyway, which was better than nothing.</p>
<p>“He wanted to know if you had detoured to the pub you were gone so long.” That would have been a better plan, she could have gone to the pub, got blotted, and then Lu could have dealt with it all instead. Why hadn’t she thought of that?</p>
<p>“Oh. Wait, how long has it been?” It hadn’t been that long, surely, twoish minutes to walk down the road, and then what another ten to pop to the shop.</p>
<p>“Over an hour, we were all very impressed, the most any of us has spent there have been ten minutes. I think we spent less than that when we went to the Asda, and we bought clothes then.” Yeah, no wonder he’d been waiting, they must have thought she’d cracked. No wonder they had stared at her when she went back in, she was pretty sure she’d only been down two aisles. Properly must have zoned out. She was deliberately ignoring the comment about the four of them buying clothes in Asda. The thought of Solas trying on clothes in a supermarket. The idea of them checking each other out to make sure they didn’t look ridiculous. Or the idea of them buying boxers. Not thinking at all. Not at all.</p>
<p>“Oh, well, uh-” she was stuck on the idea of the four of them deciding which style of underwear to buy. Knowing Fenris, he was probably going without, with any luck Alistair wasn’t. </p>
<p>“Eloquent as ever,” fuck him smirk face, although she didn’t argue when he snagged the bags from cutting off the circulation to her fingers, even if she did ignore how he cockily offered his elbow like she was an old woman. </p>
<p>This time she made it through the front door and out the back, into the small garden where the men were lounging on deck chairs, with empty white food boxes strewn by their feet. She needn’t have worried about them not finishing all the food Alistair had bought, she’d forgotten what a gannet he was. </p>
<p>“Lu called?” She could do this, she could, and no, she wasn’t going into the house to hide, she needed a glass, and a spoon, oh no, no long thin spoons to eat the icecream with, oh well, a trip to the shop would be in order. Or maybe not, judging by the smirking bastards and her lummox giant adopted son.</p>
<p>“Good shop?” fuck off Varric, smug bastard, it was something when she preferred the ancient prick out of the four of them, he at least handed her a glass, even if he didn’t move until she pulled at the cutlery drawer to get at a spoon, she was right though, no sundae spoons, a teaspoon would have - </p>
<p>“How have you managed to have no teaspoons?” They’d only been here three weeks, surely not long enough to develop that particular talent, no way was she eating icecream with a dessert spoon. </p>
<p>“Next drawer down.” Definitely preferred Solas, they had a drawer just full of teaspoons, maybe when they said three weeks, they meant ten years. Still, no sundae spoons, but, a good selection of teaspoons none the less. She felt a bit silly now, holding a teaspoon and an empty glass, being hounded away from the door by the ancient prick, clearly not trusting her not to make a break for it. Well, realistically, she was tempted, no, not today Josephine, hmm how was Josephine, she should ask. Maybe she should speak.</p>
<p>“Lu said to let you know that he’d be here in thirty, traffic dependent and that we weren’t allowed to let you have a meltdown at us until he is here to mediate.” Fucking Varric, prick utter prick. </p>
<p>“Can I have my ice cream please.” Two could play at this game. Also, there was no way she was dealing with this without consuming something, and as they had devoured all of the sausage rolls, she’d opt for the ice cream, maybe dunk in some of the chocolate.</p>
<p>“It’ll melt before you eat it at this rate.” What? Oh, she’d zoned again, quickly checking her mouth in case she’d started to drool. She was ignoring the really smirking bastard Fenris, before running her spoon over the pristine surface of the ice cream, letting it roll into a scrumptious scoop, before bringing it to her mouth, savouring the sweet, nutty taste of the praline. </p>
<p>“I always thought when you said you were this height, you were exaggerating.” Thanks, Alistair, going to ignore that one and carry on eating the ice cream, far more enjoyable than short jokes.</p>
<p>“Are you just going to ignore us?” Fuck off Fenris, she’d spoken to them, she was looking - well she was looking mainly at how the sweetness squidged in the container if she put any pressure on it, and how the spoon ran across the surface, swirling in the caramel to offer the best experience on the tongue. </p>
<p>“At this rate, Lu will be here before she says another word.” Zoning, she needed to stop zoning if the dry welsh tones were accurate.</p>
<p>“Look, it’s a bit of a shock,” maybe this time she should be saying “understatement” to herself. A bit of a shock, that would have been not being tripped up by the cat going down the stairs, or finishing a load of washing and not having spare socks. </p>
<p>“Are you pleased to see us?” Oh Alistair, such a wonderful bouncy puppy, she couldn’t help but give him a smile.</p>
<p>“When am I ever not happy to see you?” Well, she could think of a handful of times right off the bat when she hadn’t been, but the sentiment was the same. “Trying to process, also maybe we want to do this once, when Lu is here, instead of twice.” Also, she was still processing, processing hard, like an absolute bitch. </p>
<p>Varric answered her phone again, she would need to get it back at some point soon, if only because the battery would be flat the number of calls she’d received. </p>
<p>“He says, ten minutes, he’s just paid for parking. Google says eight minutes, but he thinks it might take longer to leave the car park.” Never did she think she would hear Varric Tethras, talk about google and car parks. She was doing a Nanny Ogg, focusing on the small numbers because the big ones were too scary.</p>
<p>“Great, great.” The questions were starting to bubble in her throat, so she did what was best, and rammed the spoon into the soothing dessert. “I need to ask, no, wait for Lu, alright, how did you find the house? Please tell me you didn’t break in” she couldn’t help but give the Writer a suspicious look as he held his hands up in mock horror at the assumption.</p>
<p>“Now, now, would we. No, we went to a lovely place called tourist information and asked for a long term solution to accommodation around these parts. They were very helpful,” she bet they were, though long term made her only a touch concerned.</p>
<p>“We have another week before we need to find alternative accommodation,” oh, she could rely on Fenris to answer the unspoken questions. </p>
<p>“But, now we’ve found you, we can just move in with you.” she rammed the spoon into her mouth to hide the squeak, as her glorious manchild beamed at her. Damned if she wasn’t trying to work it out as well, they had two spare beds, and her parents had an airbed, there was definitely - no, she needed Lu to get here fast.</p>
<p>“I need to go to the butchers,” frigging Fenris didn’t even hide his laughter, as she stood up in what she described to herself as not panicked, but with purpose. </p>
<p>“He’s good isn’t he, lovely sausages,” maybe Varric wasn’t so bad after all, she could see him switching track, talk to the crazy woman, keep her calm, keep her settled until Lu arrived. </p>
<p>“His chinese style pork chops are delicious, and his minted lamb chops,” she could focus on this, the dessert tasted sour now for some reason, and she couldn’t complain as it was plucked from her hands, a glass of her fizz replacing it, keeping her hands busy.</p>
<p>“Alistair’s been living off bacon and sausage for most of the meals he cooks,” she could believe that nice and simple, easy to deal with, throw them on some bread and a delicious snack, or combine with wedges, a meal in itself. </p>
<p>“I’m surprised you let him cook, he wasn’t exactly the best, no offence.” she gave him a firmer grin, this she could focus on, food, simple things, not big things.</p>
<p>“Hey, Varric just gets us takeaways in. So far he’s trying to work his way through the Chinese menu.” That she could also believe, the Writer was a bone idle toerag at the best of times, and walking three doors down would be far easier than having to cook.</p>
<p>“Solas doesn’t cook at all,” oh, well apparently it wasn’t a pleasant conversation, after all, this would be a shit-stirring one.</p>
<p>“I’m the only one who is actually working, of course, I wouldn’t cook,” wait, working, there was no way he’d gone and gotten a job. </p>
<p>“He’s been looking for you, is what he means, not working in the shop. Although now he’s found you, or you’ve found us, he can start pulling his weight.” Yeah, Fenris wasn’t such a shit either, as he drawled at the scowling ancient prick.</p>
<p>“You’ll all be glad to know, he’s here.” Oh, so the hearing thing still worked - or no, he could see the message flash up on her phone, and she was pushed back into her seat as she went to go and find him.</p>
<p>She wasn’t even embarrassed to say, as soon as she heard her husband's dulcet tones, she relaxed. Jer heart no longer trying to beat itself out of her chest, she was able to give him a genuinely pleased smile as he bobbed down to kiss her on the lips. Then turning and embracing the three other men, as Solas looked highly uncomfortable lingering in the doorway.</p>
<p>“Alright, now Lu’s here, explain.” She waited just long enough for him to settle down next to her, stealing a sip of her drink as they stared at the impossible men.</p>
<p>“Solas said he could get us here to see you.” Bless Alistair, for attempting to answer.</p>
<p>"I think she means, explain why we are here" well yes, Fenris, but you still didn't answer.</p>
<p>A long awkward pause that led her to believe the answer might be something that would have her tearing her hair out. Especially as they started to look at each other, clearly debating how best to lie.</p>
<p>"You were bored?" Not too far off the mark judging from the none expressions from everyone but Alistair, who instead looked offended.</p>
<p>"We missed you." Uh, huh, that's why they do something utterly impossible.</p>
<p>"Mythal is dead." She knew that it was something she'd warned him would probably happen, one of the fixed points if she could steal from Doctor Who. "I used the power to bring us here." Well that was more of a surprise, though it did mean he hopefully hadn't blown up the world again, he'd promised on pain of her ripping his head off he wouldn't, not that she could do it here mind, but still, she could make him pay.</p>
<p>"So that's the how-" she cut herself off as she saw a grimace on his face.</p>
<p>"I...miscalculated." she couldn't help the expression on her face that had Varric laughing, and smirk-face directing his smirk at Solas instead.</p>
<p>"Pay up Chuckles, we said she'd roll her eyes, knew it." He just glared at Varric, who looked unrepentant.</p>
<p>"Miscalculated how?" Well, she could think of a million ways, he never thought anything through as far as she could tell.</p>
<p>"We were supposed to arrive next to you." She didn't buy it for a second, although they hadn't been very far away, she'd been at her parents a lot that week, but not a chance that was it. "I didn't have your scent." Right, but he knew that from Thedas.</p>
<p>"He doesn't have any access to his magic." If looks could kill, Fenris would have dropped dead.</p>
<p>"So how are you…?" Lu was far more tactful than she was, she would have asked him outright knowing what the answer was likely to be.</p>
<p>"Also, while I can understand Alistair, and Solas, because he had the foresight of a goldfish, why did you two think anything he had planned was a good idea?" </p>
<p>"Fenris was replaced, by a simple guard, and Varric has been replaced by Dagna," Solas said with a spiteful look at Fenris, she needed a stiff drink.</p>
<p>"Alistair was replaced by Rylen, and you are hiding from Merrill" It was turning into a tit for tat.</p>
<p>"You can't get home, and the only reason you decided to do something so stupid was because you got dumped, or in Solas' case, hiding from a woman?" That was a full house of overreactions. "You absolute idiots!"</p>
<p>"But you can take us back!" She started at Fenris, and she could feel Lu petting her back.</p>
<p>"As I kept explaining, we don't leave here like that, our bodies remain here, it’s our spirits?" She glanced back at Lu for backup, as he shrugged, "It’s why we don't die properly, we just wake up. It's why we can appear differently. We never actually leave!" They were fucking idiots, she'd had long chats with Solas about it, and he'd listened, he'd asked questions.</p>
<p>"You never said there wasn't any magic." This was not on her, and she had, she had said there was no magic. "What you do is magic, why wouldn't I believe there wasn't magic?" Ancient prick would be the death of her.</p>
<p>"He had some magic when we first arrived, but he ran out." Fenris was a proper little tattle-tail. She didn't want to know how he'd managed to run out, no doubt it had something to do with the money.</p>
<p>"What if," she turned properly to look at Lu.</p>
<p>"What if?" Alistair had crept forward, reminding her so much of Connor that she couldn't help but smile as he nodded up against her legs.</p>
<p>"Well did you use it up, or did you feel it draining away?" She'd let Lu talk to Solas, at this point she'd to his head off for being so stupid, and she'd rather play with Alistair's floofy hair. </p>
<p>"Conditioner, the hairdresser's washed it and cut it then had me buy a lot of expensive things for it. It feels really nice though, and it smells nice too, like a summers day. I do have to go back, though, every week." </p>
<p>"Not because she was pretty and drooling over you," Fenris drawled, kicking Alistair’s foot as he went to get another drink. The fact that she could see the big grin on her manchild’s face answered that. </p>
<p>She glanced at Lu’s face with his closed eyes and resigned expression. </p>
<p>“A week left?” </p>
<p>“They are renting it out to students after, they need us out so they can deep clean,” Varric answered all blase as he talked about the pitfalls of renting.</p>
<p>“So can I call him Grandfather now?” she didn’t see Fenris smack Alistair around the back of the head, but it saved her hand from smarting.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Valentines</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The four lads have been there since October, stuck.  It's now Valentines in a place that hadn't yet gone into lock down.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The four from Thedas had been living with them now since October. Lu had suggested that they should be moved over in bits, rather than hiring a van that would only draw attention.</p>
<p>Four months over which Vicky and Lu had gone from living in a lovely potentially four-bed house, as two people, one cat and two guinea pigs, to six adults, still one cat and two guinea pigs. The testosterone was insane, Vicky had never lived in a house with so many men before. It was not fun, and the first significant change they’d had to make was using some of the “hard-earned” money Fenris had stolen from cashpoints, on adding a small ensuite to the master bedroom, and a downstairs toilet. Vicky had stopped using the family bathroom altogether; she’d bruised herself too often in the middle of the night to bother.</p>
<p>Her parents had delighted in the four newcomers, Alistair and Fenris had been encouraged to join the Rugby Club, which was wonderful...! Both of them making the first team almost immediately much to her dad’s delight. It meant that every Saturday someone had to waste the day going to watch, and now with the all-weather pitch, the matches didn’t even get called off all the time. It was great, as was the mid-week training sessions. Why they couldn’t play for the local team, rather than the one her dad ran touch for…</p>
<p>“Vicky - Solas wants to know why are the trains cancelled?” Alistair had ambled out to the shed where she was busy hiding from them, sorry working on her magnum opus, whilst watching youtube videos and eating popcorn that she’d had to smuggle out of the house before guts ate them.</p>
<p>“I have no idea. I’m not a network rail operator, can’t you look it up?” He was eyeing her popcorn again. It was bad enough he’d eaten all of the breadsticks she’d got in for the very special meal she had planned.</p>
<p>“Oh, well we won’t be able to go into the city,” He gave her a cheeky smile. </p>
<p>“You can get a taxi. You have the money to, all four of you promised you would leave me the house tonight, of all nights, you promised Alistair.”</p>
<p>“Fenris doesn’t feel like going out, and it’s raining.” She could see Varric in the window of the living room, casually staring up at the sky. Fucker. They’d sent Alistair out as a sacrifice.</p>
<p>“You won’t melt, this is valentines, I have plans. I scrubbed that bathroom clean, so I could use it. I’ve prepared a lovely meal for Lu when he finally gets home. We are going to have a nice night in. I’m not having you four cluttering up the place complaining about shit!” She couldn’t actually throttle him, but she was willing to try.</p>
<p>“We can get pizza, you won’t even notice us,” that was an outright lie. The lads would want to use the living room, and then it would smell of pizza, beer and men, not of flowers, scented candles and fine food. She wanted to snuggle up with Lu on the sofa and watch a shitty rom-com, and then retire up to bed while they couldn’t be overheard for once. </p>
<p>It was ridiculous, they were like bloody ducklings following them around all the time. Solas and Fenris both had this look like they were keeping track of each noise they made in the bedroom, and it was getting stupid. </p>
<p>It had been bad enough when over New Years, Alistair had decamped into their bedroom on an airbed, for their friends who’d arranged to visit over the holiday period. Fenris had chosen to sleep in the shed, which meant he’d left socks literally everywhere, and the washing machine hadn’t stopped.</p>
<p>But it was fine because her mother had enjoyed feeding all of them. A whole goose, gone in the space of minutes. Leftovers - what leftovers. Alistair ate everything put in front of him, and they’d still had to call in at Mccy D’s for a light snack on the way home. They now had an extra fridge full of cheese, that was kept outside in a newly knocked up little shed. It was wonderful, her house, her too big a house was bursting at the seams. The neighbours must have thought she’d started her own harem.</p>
<p>Varric had tried to steal her space, and she’d fought him off with incense sticks and very candy smelling wax melts. It was hers, she needed it. Lu was thrilled to share his space during the days he was actually at home, they’d even hooked the huge tv up so they could all game together. Or play magic, or dnd, some days she felt like he was single again.</p>
<p>Her shed was the last refuge she had, a space that was purely hers, even if she did allow them in occasionally, to read, or listen to music. Sometimes even to have a bit of a chat while she sat and knitted, they weren’t all bad.</p>
<p>Right well, she’d have to deal with this new problem now, before they got it into their stupid thick heads they were interfering with her night in with Lu.</p>
<p>“Vicky,” Fenris was giving her the old, “I’m going to say as little as possible so you can’t say I did anything,” skit. She was onto his little games.</p>
<p>“Apparently watching the Wizard of Oz has you running scared?” He looked blank. “A little rain isn’t going to hurt you,”</p>
<p>“You won’t even notice that we’re here,” lies. </p>
<p>“See we had an agreement, in fact, SOLAS, VARRIC, get in here. We need to have a chat.” They promised her before Christmas when it became apparent that they would be here long term. They had promised her that if she asked for a night in alone, they would go out. </p>
<p>Varric had his hand tucked behind his back, and she was reasonably sure she’d heard the fridge close, he better not have been at the chocolates. Solas was busy on his phone, for an ancient prick she couldn’t pry the thing from him.</p>
<p>“Alistair is still alive you’ll be glad to know,” None of them had the cheek to be ashamed of the fact they’d used him as the sacrificial lamb. “I’ll book you a cab into the city or into town, but you aren’t staying in. I don’t care if a train is cancelled,” she added as Solas started to show her the train app.</p>
<p>“It’ll be cheaper to stay in,” Varric was such a pain in her ass.</p>
<p>“I’m glad you are trying to be financially responsible in these dangerous times, but as you all promised - this is my night in with Lu,” she took a deep breath. “This is the first time this year I’ve asked for the house to be free for a whole six hours.”</p>
<p>In the end, it wasn’t too bad. The lads had gone for a curry, walking to the one that wasn’t five minutes walk but to one that was twenty. While she listened to Lu rant about how idiotic people were who couldn’t understand how to do v-lookups, they dined on remaining nibbles she’d managed to stop the lads from eating. The idiotic romcom turned into The Chronicles of Riddick, with the lads returning stinking of beer.</p>
<p>“Budge up!” Alistair flopped onto the floor next to their legs, as Solas perched on the arm of the sofa.</p>
<p>“Fenris could do that,” Varric snarked ignoring the death glares she was sending in his general direction. She highly doubted Fenris could outrun the sun, not that it was the point!</p>
<p>“Shush, this is the best bit,” Lu waved his hand at them, completely missing the eye-roll from his loving and devoted wife. She’d make sure he paid for it later.</p>
<p>As Valentines went, it hadn’t been the worse. Better than the year they’d paid upfront for a fancy meal for her only to catch a nasty cold and be unable to breathe. Or the year that they’d been dragged into work event. She did throw a book at Alistair when he told them to keep the noise down after she’d managed to extract Lu from the tempting “let's watch all of them in order”.</p>
<p>Not bad at all.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Lockdown</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Solas doesn't understand that Vicky can't fix Covid 19.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Can't you do something about it?" She was trying to retain some semblance of sanity, that was what she was trying to do, despite Solas whining at her every day as if the answer would change.</p>
<p>"No," through gritted teeth. It had been bad enough in the beginning when the whole country was most definitely on lockdown and toilet paper had been… Well, thankfully her sister's partner had gone demented before Christmas and gotten enough to supply even her household for a good year. </p>
<p>Before lockdown, when she would have some time to herself. When the lads would go out to play, sorry go out and train, or go to work. When Solas would disappear off into the city to go research and try patisseries just to make sure, Varric would go to his writer's meetings or the bookies when Lu would work in the office half the time. Her time in the house when she could focus on her time. </p>
<p>No more long showers and wandering around the house naked for Vicky. Instead, they were all there, all the time. She couldn't even just up and leave either because lockdown. She'd go for her allowed one hour walk and they'd tag along. The only alone time she got was the 5 minutes in the car to go shopping once every two weeks. Then it was alone time with a bunch of strangers she'd queued up with to enter the supermarket. Who didn't understand the social distancing thing. </p>
<p>Trying to buy food for Alistair that lasted beyond half a week was difficult at the best of times. Batch cooking didn't work, he just treated it like a challenge to eat everything she cooked. Bastard didn't even have the decency to put weight on. </p>
<p>Solas whining that she wasn't doing anything to "fix it" either didn't help. No matter how often they explained that it didn't work that way. Currently, she was working out the best way to organise her space. The shed had become too warm, even with the aircon on that they'd bought for that very reason. Previous years, well she just took her clothes off and closed the blinds. This year… Well, half the time they were in and out like bloody jack in the boxes. </p>
<p>"We could move?" Alistair announced as if it was his idea. It clearly wasn't, watching the false surprise on Varric's face.</p>
<p>"No."</p>
<p>"Why can't you fix it?" Solas ignored Alistair.</p>
<p>"Do you really think any of them want me fixing this? The solutions were out there but were ignored because they were inconvenient," she rubbed the bridge of her nose so as not to punch him in his.</p>
<p>"What if we ask you too?" </p>
<p>"You don't believe in me, Alistair would never in case I managed to send him back. Fenris I doubt believes either, and Varric is enjoying it far too much." She had her suspicions as to why it was such a hardship for Solas. He still had access to the archives online from the reference library. The nice patisseries had been closed for a while. Not even the local supermarket was doing anything particularly fancy beyond pies, while the store had been turned over to the basics necessities. Her attempts were just not as "good" as the cake shop up the road he informed her after she'd spent a whole day making something fancy. She'd introduced him to her baking cookbooks and left him to it.</p>
<p>The rooms were reshuffled, with Alistair and Fenris showing off their muscles, while Varric directed. Lu carried on working, ignoring the chaos around him as the world continued to burn around their small island of relative tranquillity.</p>
<p>The shed became Varric's bedsit after they'd installed a tiny bathroom out there. He kept the air conditioner, and her music. He'd slept as often as she had on the sofa and was happy to keep it as it was. Less to keep clean after all. It also meant he didn't have the washing machine next to him.</p>
<p>Solas kept the little box room, and Alistair and Fenris continued to share the double as neither were pulling at the moment. The dining table was permanently set up for Warhammer, with the coffee table for magic. Two guinea pigs now 5, not to reflect the state of affairs within the house like some smart arse had suggested. Even though when she started to think about it, it was a single male to four females even if he was neutered.</p>
<p>Knitting gave way to sewing, back to sewing after she'd gotten confused. Ignoring the "sewing for dummies" book Solas had delivered to the house. </p>
<p>All the while, the fear tingling in the back of the mind. What happens if one of them gets it. She should have known that even in a pandemic that wouldn't be the biggest problem.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Alright - so yes utter hypocrite. This is done until something else happens or DA4 comes out.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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